Operated switch



n. R.ALLEN.' ELECTRICALLY OPE-RATED SWITCH.

APPLICATION ms o AUG. 1. 1914. V 1 a 1 892 j," Patented Aug, 22, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- amvemtoz D. R. ALLEN.

ELECT RlCALLY OPERA TED SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED AUG-7,1914.

Patented Au -.22, 1916.

-2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Elvwudoz movement in such it manner that its free end or point proper may be moved either into engagement With the outer face of the guard rail or the inner face of the main truck 'rail'12, the inner face of such switch point being beveled slightly and its outer face be ing cut-away at a long angle in order that the cor wheels may pass smoothly from the rail 12 to the switch point 16, when "the switch point is in the latter position.

One or" the primary objects of my invention is to so construct certain of the various rails above described that the car wheels Will be automatically maintained upon the proper rails depending upon the direction of the train and the track which it is pass ing over and further in such a manner that jumping or dropping of the Wheels in pass ing the various switch points or in passing through the frog Will he reduced. In accomplishing this, 1 construct the rail or rails which form that portion of the truck, best indicated at a in the manner best illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and S In these figures that portion of the track is illustrated as consisting ot a single curved rail but in practice it Will usually be made up of a number of rail lengths in order to give sutlicieut length to the curve. lrlo'wever these seperate rails, when properly laid in alinement With each other, will appear and operate he same as though they were one and for this reason they may Well be illustrated in effect, constituting a single rail. Referring to the above figures, it will be seen. that the inner portion of this rail is thickened in a manner which may best be described by stating that the inner rail flange is thickened in such a manner that its upper face Z) extends at an angle of 20 degrees to the ggtirizontal. It should further be noticed, however, that the extent to which the fiance is thickened varies at different portions the rail, the flange being thickest at a point directly opposite the terminal of the switch point 17, at Which point its upper edge joins with the lower edge of the rail heed its lower edge beinglocated considerably to one side of the flange portion proper oi the rail. From this point, this thickened flange port-ion decreases in height uniformly and gradually in both directions, gradually merging to a rail flange of ordinary thick ness. In like manner, the inner flanges of the rail sections 13 leading to' the frog 15 are thickened, as also are the inner'ilanges of the switch points 16 and 1?, the thickening of these letter flanges being clearly illus trsted at G and (Z, respectivel 7 in Figs. '4' to he outer Wheels b the inner track 13, the of the i or ii 'heels'engaging the inclined the inner thickened flanges of Sledding to the frog and the switch poi it'll ceding from the f cg such n ner to .iorce the outer l toward the outer rail until their 'langes snugly against the in ver face of the head of such rail. Under these circumstances. although the inner rmeels have not in enect, been raised or lowered t car trucks as a Whole, have been shifted somewhat bodily towerd the outer portion of the track and the inner Wheels are argely supported by their flanges i l rail flanges which form a hearing surface avoiding either the who connnuous un through the umping or of the rail section a this engagement there is practically no or lost movement upon go of Wh eels from the switch point o the main tre. l5 mil 13. iit the same rious guard rails, above de- "cnt derailment of the cars. H from the branch track the efi'ect will. subc, the car trucks While iiog' 15, forced toward 32 of the branch track and when passing through. the switch proper being held eg inst the lei of the track.

A train approaching the switch in the directi I i the arrow, assuming that the the train 1 as SIIOW'ZI in i i will course pass along the main trsclz. This absolutely insured in spite of the fact point 17 is stationary, he-

' d face 5 of the thickened T section a which ens we flanges or he Wheels passing upon tlrv rail section a force the trucks toj 32 in such a manner that J18}? Wheels the trucks Will readily "int "the sWi" he inclit s to the switch. point 1'7, the-flanges of e ii Aer Wheels being spaced from the tread he rail which they are traveling on, be of this engagement, as shown in Fig. 2 and also illustrated in Fig. 3. As the passage of the our past the frog is identical with the passages previously described, this n c not be again traced out. Assuming Jfii e car is to pass along the branch the main ljlddi; the movable menses switch point 16 is swung to bring its free end in engagement with the outer rail 12 of the main track. Under these conditions, the outer wheels of the car trucks engage this switch. point before they come to the free end of the switch point 17 and are forced by it toward the rail section. a in such a manner that the flanges of the inner wheels of the trucks will pass freely 'hrough the space 2-12 between the rail section a and switch point 17.

As previously pointed out, a still further object of my invention is the provision of train'controlled automatic means for throwing the switch, when desired. in this connection, I provide a support 30 located adjacent the outer side of the main track near the free end of the switch point 16 and upon this support I mount a solenoid having a reciprocating plunger which is pivotally connected at its outer end to a link 34 which extends between adjacent ties of the track, terminating in an upwardly directed hook or finger which engages about the inner flange of the switch point 16, the body of the link extending beneath the rail 12 and switch point. It will therefore be seen that upon euergization of this solenoid, themovement of its plunger will act through the link 34 to swing the switch point into en gagement with the main rail 12 of the track. Under normal circumstances, the switch point is held in opposite position by a spring 36 operatively connected to the switch point, as shown at 37 and to one of the ties as shown at 38. Although I have illustrated a helical torsion spring in the drawings it will of course be understood that a compression spring may be employed or in fact any suitable type of spring which may be adapted for the purpose desired.

In connection with. the above described switch actuatin mechanism, 1 preferably provide a. switch operating link 74 connected to the switch point 16 in the same manner as the link 34, but connected at its opposite end to the crank arm 75 of a hand switch stand 76 having toe usual hand lever 77. It will be clear that with this arrangement, the switch may be closed either by energizing the solenoid or by proper manipulation of the hand lever 77, either actuating means assuming the switch stand to be unlocked, being entirely independent of the other.

It will of course be understood that E do not wish to limit myself to the specific details illustrated and described as various changes, within the scope of the appended claims, may be made at any time. without in the slightest degree departing from the spirit of my. invention.

l-laving thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a switch construction, the combination with a fixed switch point and a swinging switch point, of track rails coacting with such switch points, that track rail adjacent the fixed switch point being spaced from such point and having its inner flange thickened to provide a cam wheel engaging face.

2. In a switch construction, the combination with a fixed switch point and a swinging switch point, of track rails co-acting with such switch points, that track rail adjacent the fixed switch point being spaced from such point and having its inner fiange thickened to provide a cam wheel engaging face, saidcam face being inclined at an angle of substantially twenty degrees to the horizontal.

3. In a switch construction, the combination with a fixed switch point and a swing ing switch point, of track rails co-acting with such switch points, that track-rail adjacent the fixed switch point being spaced from such point and having its inner flange thickened to provide a cam wheel engaging face, said cam face being inclined at an angle of substantially twent degrees to the horizontal, the thickening of such -rail being greatest adjacent the free end of the switch point and gradually diminishing in both directions from such point.

4. A rail section for switches and frogs including a body portion having a base flange, web andhead, the web being thickencd to provide cam wheel engaging faces forming continuations of each other, said faces being inclined transversely at an angle of substantially twenty degrees to the horizontal and inclined upwardly longitudinally toward each other.

5. A rail section for switches and frogs including a. body portion having a base flange, web and head, the web being thickened to provide cam wheel engaging faces forming continuations of each other, said faces being inclined transversely at an angle to the horizontal and inclined longitudinally toward each other.

In testimony whereof ll aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL B. ALLEN. [1,. s]

Witnesses:

JosnrH C. ZruKLn, W. N. vVoonsoN. 

